


Day five : First crush

by mydeardeath



Series: damitimweek2017 [4]
Category: DCU (Comics)
Genre: Gen, M/M, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-10
Updated: 2017-12-20
Packaged: 2019-02-13 04:42:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,873
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12976164
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mydeardeath/pseuds/mydeardeath
Summary: There is a new vigilante in Gotham and an 8 years old Tim is determined to uncover is identity.





	1. 1998

 

It has been a few months since Tim had started to follow Batman and Robin in their nightly adventure. At the end of the first month, he had already uncovered their true identity as the billionaire Bruce Wayne and his ward, Dick Grayson. But he couldn't point out who was the third man that had appeared a few days ago. From what Tim had seen he was in his early twenties and was almost as tall as the Batman though he was leaner. Nobody matching this description had started to frequent the Wayne Manor. It was a real mystery, one that Tim was determined to solve.

His parents were exceptionally home which usually delighted him. He didn't get to see them a lot and yet he had so much he wanted to share with them. Each time they came home, he would demand their attention on every occasion he got. But not today, today they were just inconvenience to his plan. He didn't go out every night, not when he had to go to school in the mornings. If he started to show sign of fatigue, his housekeeper would keep an eye on him which would complicate his late activities. So he always patiently awaited Friday night. Until this day, that is. Lying awake in his bed, he could hear his parents moving around as midnight passed.

It was almost two in the morning when the house fell silent. Tim still let a few minutes passed to be sure nobody was getting up again and shuffled out of bed. He was already dressed so he just put on his shoes, grabbed a black hoodie and, of course, his camera. He didn't lose time before opening his window and sneaking outside. He jumped on the bike he had hidden in the bushes near his house. It would take at least 15 minutes to get to the city and even more to find the unknown new vigilante, so the nine years old sped off.

He had seen the man near Giordano Botanical Garden on more than one occasion since he had appeared and hoped he would be there once again. Thankfully it was in Burnley, one of the parts of Gotham closest to the county and his house. He had arrived at the botanical garden less than half an hour after leaving home, if the man was here he would have plenty of time to observe him. He hid his bike behind a dumpster in lack of a better idea and started to climb the building in front of him. It was one of the tallest in this area and would offer him a good view of the neighborhood. The fire escape made the ascension easier but still a bit tiring for his little legs. He had to take a minute to catch his breath after reaching the top. Then he went to work. He took binoculars out of his pocket, they didn't have night vision but it was still better than nothing. He scanned the surrounding buildings for any sign of movement. There was nothing. Except for a few drunk, the streets were calm. He had been impatient for the weekend to arrive all week long and now that he was here, nothing was happening. He hadn't had the chance to check the news with his parents at home, he had no mean to know if anything big had happened downtown.

Taking advantage of the buildings closeness, he jumped from rooftop to rooftop, exploring the area with hope to stumble upon the new vigilante. Finally, after some time, he caught sight of a silhouette hiding in the shadows, just slightly illuminated the light of an advertising. He would have easily missed him should he have not landed at this exact place, with this exact angle. A golden "R" was shining almost imperceptibly on his chest and Tim knew this was the man he had been looking for. To get a better view, he came nearer to the edge then positioned his camera toward the vigilante. He realized the man wasn't wearing his mask but unfortunately, the quality of the pictures wouldn't probably be good with the distance and lack of light so he wouldn't be able to properly see the features of his face. If only he could get closer to him. While pointing the camera at the fascinating man, he slowly advanced and nearly fall off when one of his foot met the void. He toppled backward just in time to crash on his ass rather than ending up crushed six floors below. But in the calm night, the sound of his ass hitting the ground is enough to attract the attention of the vigilante. When he looked up, the man is staring right at him making him release a soft whimper. The time seemed to stop while he stared wide-eyed at the other man. But it had actually barely lasted a second as the man disappear when he blinked. Tim release the breath he had been holding when panic had overwhelmed him. Anyway, the man was a hero, he wouldn't kill him ? Right ? He hadn't even had a good look at his face !

Deciding he was enough for one night, the boy went back to his bike. He was still he little bit shook when he reached the alley where he had hidden his bike, his hands were a bit shaky. Nonetheless, he was satisfied. He had found what he was looking for and he would have other occasions to uncover the man true identity. Once on his bike, he hurried to go home. He had been outside for only two hours and would be able to rest enough to not worry his parents. If they were still here by the time he would wake up. He put his bike back in the bushes and climbed into his room, being careful to not make a noise. Once he was inside, he locked the window and took off his shoes. Just when he had put away his camera, he felt someone crept up behind him. He didn't have time to turn around that a hand on his mouth stopped him.

"Don't scream. I'm not here to hurt you" someone murmured in his hear. He didn't recognize the voice and his heart was beating wildly in his chest.  
The intruder let him go slowly and he spun around to discover it was the vigilante. Maybe he had thought himself safe a bit too quickly.

"I need the card." Tim just looked at him, puzzled. What card was he talking about ? As Tim was unmoving, looking at him with his big doe eyes, the stranger sighed. Tim still didn't budge when the man turned on his desk lamp, illuminating slightly the room, but not enough to be visible from the corridor. Tim finally reacted when the man took hold of his camera.

"Hey ! Give that back." He whined trying to reach for the camera but the stranger was a giant!

"I can't let you keep photo evidence of me".

"I won't show them to anyone, I swear! I have been taking pictures of Batman and Robin for months and never told anyone !" He pleaded not wanting to lose his precious pictures.  
The man looked at him weirdly before saying:"Listen, kid, I shouldn't be here and there can be any trace of my passage at this time-period."   
Tim shot a teary-eyed look imploring look and his lips start to tremble as if he was going to burst into tears.

"What's your name, kid ?" he asked, kneeling at the boy height.

"Timothy Drake" he sniffled. The stranger looked surprised at that but recovered pretty quickly. "Okay, Timothy, I am going to tell you something and you will have to keep it to you."  
At that Tim nodded fervently.

"I'm from the future." Tim's eyes went even wider at that. "This photos could alter the chronology. But if you accept to give them to me, I promise I will give them back in 16 years. I know it's long..."

"It's okay, I understand. But how will I find you ?"

"You're a smart boy, Timothy, you will manage! So you will give me the card ?  
Tim was still confused by that. He didn't have any card. He went to retrieve his camera and get the rolls of film out.

"Were you talking about that when you said card ?"

"Ah, yes, I forgot they weren't used yet. Thank you."

Instead of just taking the film and leaving, the man put it back and pointed the camera at Tim. "For a souvenir," he said. Tim let him and asked also for a photo with him. If what the man had said was true, he would be pretty cool to take one with a person from the future. As the man was taking the last picture of the both of them, Tim decided on a whim to kiss his cheek. After that he barely dared look at the man, a bright blush spreading on his face. He took the camera out of the man's hands, pull the film out and gave it to him. The man laughed softly and bent down to give him a kiss on the cheek too before saying goodbye and jumping out the window in one smooth movement.

Tim went to bed all flustered thinking of the man, of his lips on his cheek and his beautiful green eyes. He couldn't wait to see him again. He guessed he would just have to wait 16 years. 


	2. 2014

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Damian fulfills the promise he had made sixteen years ago.

It had been a long time since Tim last came to Gotham. He had tracked down the Covenant of Ka for months all over the world. He had finally managed to take down most of the Scarabs and destroy their base of operation. They would need time to go back in the game, but they would, undoubtedly, come back. Tim was relieved to be able to come home after all this time even if it wouldn't be able to rest right away. He still had some reports to complete and send to the cave computer. Once this was done, he will have to visit the manor so Alfred could check if he had been eating and sleeping enough (which probably wasn't the case) and Dick will want to pass some time with his "little brother" after his long absence.  
It was well past four in the morning when his plane finally landed in Gotham. The city was dark and gloomy. He was soaked to the bone before he made it to Crime Alley. He had left in the middle of the summer and took his bike instead of the car to come to the airfield. Yet he was glad to be home.  
As soon as he had entered his home, he threw his bags in a corner, letting them for later. He found his way to his computer. There was a lot of message from the Batcave and Oracle, informing him of all that had happened in his absence. He would read them all, just not tonight. He hadn't slept more than two hours in the last three days and by now he barely felt the effect of coffee. Once his reports finished he would collapse on his bed for the next ten hours.

***

When he finally woke up, the sun was already high in the sky, a rare occurrence for him. He rarely took the time to rest but he sometimes had to admit to needing it. Plus, if he didn't want his family to force him to step down for quite some time he would have to be presentable. The first step was to take a shower, he hadn't bothered to do it the night before and he could smell himself. He took time to clean all the dirt on him, he hadn't had the chance to take a real shower in a long time. His last hideout had only a sink and no mirror. He was glad he hadn't booked a public flight for his return when he got to see his reflection. He didn't remember having ever grown such a beard. His big brothers like to tease him about his baby smoothed face. Maybe he should keep the look for a few more days. He just trimmed it to look a bit less like a hobo so that Alfred wouldn't glare too much at it. He even grabbed something to eat on his ways to the manor, along with a big cup of coffee.  
He hadn't thought to warn anyone he had come back and the manor was completely silent when he entered. He called for Alfred and checked the kitchen but found nothing. They were obviously all out. It was not really surprising, they all had their own place now that they were all adults. So most of the time it was just Alfred and Bruce.  
Tim helped himself to the cave and read the various reports of the computer to know what he had missed in Gotham. Most of it was expected, some villains breaking from Arkham (for what ? The hundredth time ?). The only unordinary news was Damian visit in the past. The file wasn't complete. Apparently, the youngest of the family had just come back a few hours before Tim. Hopefully, Damian had managed to go unnoticed and hadn't done any damage to the timeline.

***

The rest of the family only came in late afternoon. He didn't take long for Dick and Jason to notice him and his facial hair. They immediately teased him about it, pinching his cheeks and calling him cute to want to look like a big boy. Tim pushed them away making them laugh, but surprisingly Damian doesn't join in. In fact, he kept silent, just staying beside them. They all went to the living room, thankfully they changed of conversation. Damian had arrived at the same time than them and they didn't know more than Tim what had happened to him when he had traveled through time.  
So he told them how he had come to 1998 and saw a thirteen years old Dick Grayson in his green panties, following a young Batman. That made Bruce perk up behind the newspaper he was reading a few meters away from his children. He kept pretending he was not listening, but by his posture, the boys could tell they had his attention. They had been well trained after all.  
Talking about the past brought back a lot of memory. "Do you remember how you used to follow us around, Timmy ?"

  
"Oh yeah ? Dickie was babybird first crush ?" Jason teased, making Tim spluttered while trying to deny.

"I disagree". Damian interruption surprised them all. Bruce even lowered his papers. "Drake first crush was far more handsome."

Dick made an indignant sound at that but Damian didn't care and pursued. "He liked them older than you were and with green eyes, not blue."  
And Tim memories rushed in. How could he have forgotten they first encounter ? With the time he must have thought it was a dream but no, Damian had come to his house all those years ago. And he had kissed him just before he left.  
Tim was too occupied reenacting the scene in his head to answer. The other men in the room didn't miss the blushing mess he had become. They took his silence for a confession and they were now all curious about who Damian was talking about. Bruce had probably already guessed what it meant and the other would eventually figure it out, so Tim fled the room leaving a smug looking Damian behind. 

***

Tim stayed hidden for the rest of the day, but he would soon have to leave his room to go on patrol. His first crush was the ten years old brat that had tried to kill him. Damian had changed a lot since that time but Tim couldn't decipher how the teen would use that bit of information. Even if he was no longer seeking to hurt him with cruel words, he still liked to annoy the hell out of him just for his own amusement. Tim thought were interrupted by a knock on the door. Whoever it was didn't bother to wait for an answer to enter. When Tim turned in his chair, stopping the work he had been doing on his computer, he was not surprised to discover Damian. Apparently, the teen had had the decency to make their conversation private.

"I believe this belongs to you, Timothy," he said walking to him and handing the old roll of film.

Tim was surprised, he had completely forgotten that detail. "Thanks, Damian."

"Well, I made a promise."

Inspecting the roll, Tim realized that the end had been cut. He frowned and Damian understood immediately the silent question. "I promised to give you back your photos. The last ones were mine".  
Tim's cheeks reddened once again. He knew perfectly what was on one of them. Of course, Damian would keep it. While Tim was hiding in his hand, Damian approached until Tim could feel his breath against his neck.

"Don't worry Timothy," he said against his ear," you were my first crush too."


End file.
